April 2014:"Health care reform in California: How did we do in year one?"

Nearly 1.4 million people have signed up for health insurance through Covered California and 1.9 million joined the state's expanded Medi-Cal program. In a noon webinar, Gerald Kominski, the director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and a professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, will discuss what the numbers mean, what the exchange did well, and what needs to be done to sustain and build enrollment in the future.

February 2014: “Undocumented and Uninsured: Immigrants under the Affordable Care Act”

Although many people in the United States will gain health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act, undocumented immigrants are one group that will not benefit much from the new law. This is due to the fact that the 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. – who are most often young, working adults in good health – are excluded from participation in the new insurance marketplaces and state Medicaid expansions. Steven P. Wallace, the Center’s associate director and a professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, will examine the health status and health care use of undocumented immigrants and suggest policy alternatives that could improve their access to needed health care, in this Fielding School webinar.

Currently, 8.5 million Californians who otherwise couldn’t afford health care receive benefits under Medi-Cal. This year, with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, another 1-2 million people will be eligible for Medi-Cal coverage. In this UCLA Fielding School of Public Health webinar, Dylan Roby, who directs the Center’s Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program, discussed the current status of the Medi-Cal expansion, enrollment in Covered California, and other changes that will go into effect over the next decade that could greatly impact insurance markets in the state. He also provided an update and analysis of employer-based insurance coverage, Medi-Cal "wrap" programs for lawful immigrants in the state, the status of the remaining uninsured and safety net, and what opportunities states will have in the future to change their implementation of the Affordable Care Act.